Page 110 of Obsession

“What?” Anna gasped. She looked between him and Zeeshan. Shaking her head, she addressed Mihir. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ll know soon.” To Zeeshan, he said, “You can do this quietly, or you can make a scene, in which case, cops will be called. Do you really want them involved at this point?”

Zeeshan held his hands up. “I’ll go with them.”

“What is going on?” she asked as Zeeshan lowered his face and went with Chekov.

Anna pushed against Mihir’s chest. “What the fuck was that? I know you don’t like him, but he’s not done anything to you ever.”

“Are you sure about that?” he asked.

“Come with me,” he told her when she frowned.

“Are you mad?” she yelled. “I’m not coming anywhere with you.”

“Anna, please,” he begged. “If what I think is true, then he was the one who sent me those messages from your phone that… thatday.”

“W…What?” she stuttered. “No… that can’t be.”

“Well, Anna, if you didn’t send those messages, then someone else surely did. It can’t be Asha because she was already married by then and was no longer living with you. Which means it was either him or that other friend of yours.”

“Zeeshan or Devina?” She shook her head. “This is crazy to even think about.”

“It really isn’t. He’s the only one who uses words likedipping. If you remember, one of those text messages saidI’ll make up an excuse to them anddipto come to you.In my hurt and anger, I never noticed it before, even though God knows how many times I’ve reread those messages. I never even considered the possibility of someone else sending me those messages. But after I heard him talk like that today, I am quite certain of his involvement.”

He could see the wheels turning in her head as well. She was too smart not to join the dots. Her mouth opened and closed as she came to the same conclusion.

“Come with me. Let’s find out,” he told her gently.

He reached for her arm, but she slapped his hand away. “Don’t you dare touch me. I’ll follow you in my car.”

“Then I’ll come with you.”

“No, you will not,” she said. “Every time I decide to give you a chance, you find a new way to disappoint me. So, don’t assume that whatever he says will change anything between you and me.”

“We will see about that,” he said.

She threw him a look filled with pure rage before spinning around and climbing into her car.

Of course, she would be furious. He’d never believed her. He hadn’t trusted her enough. In his defense, the proof he had made it difficult for him to think otherwise. However, even that hadn’t been able to change the fact that he loved her. He had always loved her. His hate all these years had only been a cover for the truth, which was that he still loved her, despite everything.

His phone beeped. It was his brothers on their group chat.

Armaan

Navya was never kidnapped seven years ago

Vedant

Neither was Reina. The only thing they remember from that time is that they had arrived late because Reina got delayed at med school. The next day they had waited at the restaurant where we all were to meet. But we never showed. And then, Ananya learned of your death

Armaan

There’s something missing. You really need to get to the bottom of this, Mihir

That was his plan. He needed to find out exactly how Anna’s friend had destroyed them, and why. If they could finally lay the past to rest, maybe they could finally move forward in life. Anna and he could talk again and sort everything out. It may not happen overnight, but they could at least start walking in the direction of a better future.

Hope flared in his chest. He would make it work with her. He had to, because even perceiving a future that didn’t involve her was impossible.

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